Panthers’ center promises Super Bowl win

Ryan Kalil says 2012 is the Panthers’ year to win the Lombardi Trophy.

Sorry, Falcons fans. No Super Bowl for you. This year, at least.

Carolina Panthers’ center Ryan Kalil has promised his fans — in a full-page ad in the Charlotte Observer — that it’s the Panthers’ turn to win the Super Bowl. Why? “Because we have to,” Kalil says, then continues:

For eighteen years we’ve wanted, hoped and tried …

But no more.

A moment is upon us, where dreams become beliefs and yearning becomes conviction.

How do I know?

Because I’ve seen it.

Looks closely and you’ll see it, too. You’ll see July 1st, 1993, when 40,000 of you bought club seats, licenses and luxury boxes, financing the construction of our stadium in a single day.

You’ll see October of that same year, when the NFL owners unanimously selected Carolina as the league’s 29th franchise.

You’ll see two decades of seasons bad and good. But never of greatness.